February 29, 2005
JOHN
ELLIS: BRILLIANT AT OVATIONS ON FEB. 25
 Ovation’s
in Rice Village was the setting for the evening of John
Ellis’s debut in Houston. Accompanied by Mike
Moreno on guitar, Jason Stewart on bass, and Jamire
Williams on drums, Ellis left a lasting impression on
the Houston crowd. From straight ahead jazz, to ballads
to a New Orleans style shuffle, Ellis’ quartet
encompassed a wide variety of styles for the night.
As
I entered the venue, the sound of Ellis’ saxophone
had already begun to fill the air. The crowd was already
hypnotized by the Brian Blade-like composition. I was
immediately calmed by Williams creating an ocean-like
ambience with his cymbal rolls. As the night progressed,
Ellis demonstrated his versatility and paid homage to
the great Thelonious Monk with a duet of “Ask
Me Now” with Moreno on guitar. Moreno added much
flavor to the performance with his finger style “Joe
Pass” comping on this particular tune. Monk’s
influence was still strong in the second set as the
combo covered “Rhythm-A-Ning”. Being a Monk
finalist, it was only appropriate that Ellis add such
classics to the set list. Ellis also paid tribute to
Galactic drummer Stanton Moore with a song aptly named
“Moore’s Alphabet”.
Ellis’s
tone was quite varied from the classic tenor sound on
the Monk tunes, to a more modern (but not smooth jazz)
soprano used on several of the newer original compositions,
to an ocarina which looked more like a large train whistle.
These different tones helped keep the show interesting
as each song performed seemed to be in a completely
different style as the previous one. The solid bass
lines doubled by the guitar really helped lay the foundation
for a couple of some of the more groove oriented pieces.
These modal songs really allowed each musician to explore
different avenues and create original musical ideas
in their improvisation.
Armed
with an Ibanez tube screamer, Boss digital delay and
volume pedal, Moreno also added to the variety of the
night. Scofield came to mind when trying to describe
his musical phrasing, but not to the point of imitation.
Williams was also a crowd pleaser as he displayed great
technical chops yet tasteful at the same time. With
a minimal jazz kit (no toms for the first set) he was
still able to effectively build solos and help create
a full sound.
My
only complaint of the evening was that the “light
effects” were distracting, and took away from
the performances. Basically, it felt like someone was
trying to scratch their back with the light switch during
some of the solos.
Overall,
the band put on a very impressive performance. From
the ballad of “Country Girl” (which was
written about Ellis’s hometown of 200 people)
to the New Orleans shuffle of “Sippin Cider”
to the catchy melody of the closing song for the night
“Happy” (all of which can be found on the
latest album) there was something for everyone from
this surpisingly young yet truly gifted sax player.
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